Trader Joe’s to open next year in Delray Beach

Trader Joe’s is coming to three locations in Palm Beach County next year: Delray Beach, Boca Raton and Palm Beach Gardens.

The fan-favorite ecclectic grocer announced its latest location this week at Delray Place, a new shopping center under construction at the southeast corner of Linton Boulevard and Federal Highway. Of the four stores the Monrovia, Calif.-based chain plans to open in Florida next year, three are in Palm Beach County.

The Delray Beach store will open in October 2014 at about 10,000 square feet, according to a company news release. No specific date has been given for the other two locations.

The Palm Beach Gardens store is planned in the PGA Plaza at PGA Boulevard and Prosperity Farms Road. It will be about 12,500 square feet.

The Boca Raton store will be located at 855 S. Federal Highway inside the East City Center just north of Camino Real. It too will be 12,500 square feet.

The chain declined to talk about any other development plans in the county, but Florida is a targeted growth area with two stores on the map, two opening in the fall and four more announced for next year.

“It’s pretty clear that they have gone into affluent, upwardly mobile demographic areas where the consumer desires quality product … you cannot get at other locations,” said retail consultant Alan Bush, CEO of Northlake Partners in West Palm Beach.

Joe Carosella, owner of Retail Property Group, said the upscale, ecclectic grocery store is the key to drawing a lot of other national retailers with a simliar regional draw. Trader Joe’s fans are known to drive a distance to shop, though South County residents will have options.

That corner is going through extensive redevelopment, with Fresh Market under construction across the road and LA Fitness planned for a redevelopment of the Plaza at Delray.

“The Linton and Federal Highway corridor has become the regional retail trade area to attract the southeast Palm Beach County coastal population,” he said.

Up in Palm Beach Gardens, Menin Chief Operating Officer Robert Jacoby said Trader Joe’s has drawn a lot of attention from future customers and other potential tenants since the May announcement. The redevelopment plan is still in the city approval process, but Jacoby said he anticipates ground breaking in September.

About a quarter of the 125,000-square-foot center is being torn down and rebuilt — that’s where the new Trader Joe’s will be. The rest is receiving an extensive facelift.

“It’s staggering how many people are extremely eager” to shop at the new Trader Joe’s, he said.

The location in Boca Raton is a much smaller center that is currently in development.